The invention relates to an improved storage bag for containing products that require a humid environment within the bag. More particularly the storage bag of the present invention provides two compartments, one for containing a moisture emitting pad and a second compartment for containing the product to be stored.
Many products such as tobacco, medical devices, horticulture, and some food products need to be stored in a humid environment. Tobacco products in particular need to be packaged and maintained in a controlled environment, that is, one that remains at a specific level of humidity within a given tolerance range.
When a package or bag for storing humidity sensitive products such as tobacco is meant to be kept outside and therefore exposed to the conditions, of the environment the bag needs to be able to maintain a controlled humidity level within its storage compartment for a extended period of time when experiencing variations in the level of moisture vapor resulting from changes in the relative humidity of the outside environment. To be effective at controlling the level of humidity within a storage bag, when exposed to outside humidity fluctuations found in most parts of the United States as well as in many regions of the world, the bag must be able to compensate for humidity conditions not only below the targeted level but, also conditions above the targeted level. Bags for storing products are normally exposed to these wide swings in ambient humidity conditions only during their distribution from the manufacturing plant to the retail store because once the products reach the retail store they are normally stored in an air conditioned space. A bag for storing humidity sensitive products, that is not meant to be kept outside and is therefore not exposed for long periods of time to the outside humidity conditions of the environment only need to be able to compensate for moderate humidity conditions with very little variation.
In the United States as well as many parts of the world inside human dwellings such as houses, retail stores, and most other enclosed dwellings, as well as most forms of transportation there is typically some form of air conditioning in use at least during the warmer periods of the year. During the cooler times of the year in most climates the humidity level is naturally low, both inside dwellings and outside as well. As a result of the use of air conditioning during warm times and the natural tendency for low humidity in cool times, the average relative humidity level found in most living spaces is less than 50% which is below the level that most products such as tobacco require. Therefore, a bag for storing products that must be maintained at a humidity level that is higher than the humidity level of its surroundings environment need only be able to deal with the problem of replenishing the moisture in the bag that is lost to the dryer surroundings.
For a bag to be able to successfully transmit moisture into its storage compartment for preserving a product such as tobacco the moisture must be transmitted at a slow controlled rate not to exceed a predetermined humidity level so that the compartment does not become over humidified. Inventions such as that of Tanski in U.S. Pat. No. 2,537,196 provides a humidor pouch comprising a perforated inner layer that separates the tobacco in one compartment from moisten paper towels in a second compartment. The perforated inner layer allows the moisture to pass too rapidly from the wet paper to the tobacco causing the tobacco to become over humidified even to the point of becoming wet.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a low cost storage bag for use in moderate humidity environments(preferably less than 50% relative humidity) that has the capability of replenishing moisture within its storage space that is lost to the surrounding environment. The storage bag must be able to transmit the moisture into its storage space at a slow controlled rate not to exceed a predetermined humidity level so that the compartment does not become over humidified. In addition the bag should carry out these functions for an extended period of time.